Talking With Strangers
by wfea
Summary: It's been a long day. Danny's tired and wants to get home, but when an old lady with no car walks by he can't help but give her a ride. What's up when she disappears for twenty minutes? Oneshot


Why am I writing this? I should be writing on RtP. Well, this idea trapped me in a box and wouldn't let me go until I wrote and posted it. Actually, I'm glad I wrote and posted it. I totally love it.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything…at all…so don't think I do.

Note: set after Phantom Planet. It just feels like I need to specify that now that half the phandom has seen it and the other half has read everything about it.

And also, the trio is about 34 in this fic. I love future fics, don't I?

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It was a rainy day. It had been all day, and Danny was just about sick of the constant drizzle. He didn't mind clear days or days when it poured, but a constant rain all day made him tired and mad.

It mad him exceptionally mad that he had been sitting in traffic for the last half hour and it was now…5:31 p.m. "No Sam, I'm going to take the car today. What was I thinking!?" he mocked what he'd told Sam that morning. When he said he didn't know what he was thinking, he was being serious. He'd just hopped in the car. Why? He didn't know. It's as if something was making him get in the car. But whatever the reason, he was stuck in traffic.

"Finally!" Danny exclaimed as traffic moved and he finally got to turn down his street. "It's clear," he exclaimed, happy beyond happy. Sure, he was still about ten blocks and two red lights away from his house, but there were no cars as far as he could see.

A minute later he was stopped at a red light. His eyes shifted to a billboard stuck on top of one of the buildings. The background was blue, with the picture of Jesus on the upper right side. At the top on the left, it read: Matthew 25: 31-46. In the middle was the picture of an angel. Across the bottom it read: "…when you did it to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me." Right under that where the words: First Baptist Amity Park.

As the red light turned to green, Danny's eyes shifted back onto the road as he pressed the accelerator. Apparently, he hadn't been watching carefully enough because right as he pushed the accelerator, a little old lady popped up right in front of the car.

He slammed on the brakes, glad he'd hardly been moving, and rolled down his window. "What are you doing, miss?"

"I was walking across the street," she began to tell him as she walked, slowly, closer to the driver's window, "when I dropped my bag of groceries. I was just trying to pick them up."

Danny realized she had to be at least seventy, and she had the generic "grandma" look, with a nice, calming voice. "Well, why did you walk to the store? I older lady like yourself must have a car or a kid—"

"I don't have a car, and I don't really get many visitors either. I walk everywhere I go. Actually, I'm on my way to CVS right now."

"That's on the other side of town!" Danny told her.

"Well, I'm quite use to the walk." With that, she turned around and walked towards her destination. Danny sighed and looked at the road in front of him. He was halfway down the street that would let him lie down on a nice, comfy bed, and he was EXTREMELY tired. He looked back at the old lady. How much did she have anyway? It _was _raining.

"Mam, would you like me to give you a ride to the pharmacy?" Danny asked, feeling a growing sense of compassion for the lady.

The lady, she hadn't gotten far, turned around. "Now, I wouldn't ask you do to something like that."

"Look, you don't have a car and it's raining. I have a car. Get in, and I'll take you to CVS and to your home." The lady finally did what Danny asked her to. She got in the passenger's side and sat her groceries and purse on the ground.

Danny, glad no cars had come, turned on his blinker and turned left. "So, where do you live?" he asked.

"The apartment complex behind CVS; apartment 14."

"What's your name?" Danny asked, trying to start conversation.

"Julia Celeron. What's yours?"

"Danny Fenton."

"Wait, Danny Fenton? You're Danny Phantom." It was exactly what he'd been expecting.

"Yeah, that's me," Danny answered, having a feeling that the conversation was now going to be totally about him and how great he was.

"Well, my husband's name was Daniel. He's not with us anymore, though. Our Good Lord took him a few years back. We had four kids, but one was killed in a freak accident. Actually, my husband was driving with her in the back."

"I'm sorry. What's your kid's names?" Danny asked, clearly surprised that she'd only mentioned his other identity and didn't go on and on with it.

"Gloria Umptart is my oldest with three kids and one grandson. George Celeron is next. He has two kids. My next one is probably around your age. Her name's Annie Celeron. She doesn't have a man yet," Julia said, winking, "but I'm liking the guy she's dating now. Anyway, my youngest was Tanya. She was the one that was killed."

"I'm so sorry."

"Well, what about you? A good looking man and superhero like yourself has got to have a fine looking young lady."

Danny blushed, but didn't say anything. He remembered his grandparents always saying things he thought were strange to total strangers; especially the young people.

"Yeah, I have a wife. Her name's Sam. We have three kids. The two oldest are fourteen. Their names are Lisa and Alex; they're twins. The youngest one is eleven. His name's James."

"That sounds like a nice family you have there; it'd be an honor to meet them someday."

"Um, okay." The rest of the trip consisted of a few words here and there about each other's lives. When they finally pulled up at the pharmacy, Julia got out and said she'd be back in about five minutes.

Danny nodded and reclined the seat so he could rest for a few minutes. He closed his eyes. When he finally opened them, he jumped, not remembering where he was for a minute. Then he remembered Julia. How long had he been asleep? Twenty minutes had gone by. The passenger seat was empty.

Danny, confused, got out of the car and walked to the entrance. "Mam, an old lady in red came in here about twenty minutes ago. Did you see what happened to her?" he asked as he made it to the counter.

The lady standing behind the cashier got a puzzled look on her face. "No one over thirty has come in since about thirty minutes ago."

It was Danny's turn to look confused. He turned back towards the door, turned back around and said, "Well, thank--" He stopped. There was no one behind the counter or walking away from the counter.

He ran outside and jumped back in his car. Quickly he switched gears and made it up the hill behind CVS to where the lady said she lived. He drove down the parking lot. The largest number there was 12.

Not knowing what to think, Danny turned around and was about to pull out of the parking lot to get home when another billboard caught his eye. It read: Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2.

As Danny drove home that afternoon that verse was stuck in his head. Was Julia a real person, or was she an angel? And what about that lady in CVS? He'd never thought much about religion and God and stuff, but the more and more he thought about it that night and next few days, the more he thought _there might be something to this God and angels thing after all…_

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I should probably expect mad people. Yes, I'm already bracing myself. But you know what? I don't care. I just wanna say that this is based on a TRUE STORY. No lie. Except for the CVS woman disappearing. I put that in there.


End file.
